Dundrum residents forced out of homes due to fire hazard

Fine Gael TD for Dublin South, Peter Mathews, has described the situation at The Laurels apartments in Dundrum, Dublin, as another example of incompetent and selfish developers who cut corners during the construction of properties in order to make a quick buck.

Residents at the apartment block, located beside Dundrum Town Centre, received a letter from their management company last week stating that certain elements of the building were not in compliance with proper Building and Fire Regulations. The management company is now planning on fixing these issues to ensure that the development is fully compliant with all Building and Fire Regulations, which will require tenants to move out of their homes for a period of up to three months.

“The shabby standard of construction in this country during the boom period is disgraceful. People residing in apartment blocks need to feel safe in their homes and they cannot do so if basic fire and building regulations are ignored.

“This complex is under the receivership of KPMG and the 80 apartments are now rented to tenants. If the property bubble hadn’t come to a grinding halt, these apartments would have been sold on the open market. After spending hundreds of thousands of euro on a new home, purchasers would have been forced to find alternative accommodation.

“This is a clear example of the need for proper regulation and inspection of apartments during their construction. Self-certification and self-regulation simply is not working.”